Moray McLaren

Moray David Shaw McLaren (1901–1971)[1] was a Scottish writer and broadcasting executive.

Life

He was educated at Merchiston Castle School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and spent time in Paris. He worked as assistant editor on the London Mercury, before joining the staff of the British Broadcasting Corporation, where he was assistant editor of The Listener in 1929.[2]

McLaren moved back to Scotland in 1930 as a BBC Scottish Region radio executive, acting as deputy to David Cleghorn Thomson, and in his work Return to Scotland of that year laid emphasis on his Roman Catholic background.[3] He announced his interest in Scottish nationalism in 1931 by supporting George Malcolm Thomson's pamphlet The Kingdom of Scotland Restored.[4]

During the 1930s McLaren was transferred to other posts within the BBC. He worked on the Radio Times under Eric Maschwitz.[5] He was in the Talks department. He originated a series on Scottish forensic oratory, from which John Gough's trial drama on Madeleine Smith originated. He was moved in 1935 to become assistant director of Drama and Features under Val Gielgud.[6][7]

McLaren during World War II was involved in the Polish section of the Political Warfare Executive.[8] A friend of R. H. Bruce Lockhart who ran the Executive, he was head of its Polish Region, from 1940 to 1945.[9] In a period of bad health, McLaren lost his income. He was supported at this time by Evelyn Waugh.[10]

The actor and one of the founders of the Gateway Company, Lennox Milne (1909–1980), was McLaren's wife. The Company performed work by him, and they wrote radio scripts together.[2][11][12][13]

Works
  • Return to Scotland: An Egoist's Journey (1932)[14]
  • A Wayfarer in Poland (1934)[15]
  • A Dinner with the Dead and other stories (1947)[16]
  • Escape and Return (1947)[17]
  • Stern and Wild: A New Scottish Journey (1948)[18]
  • A Small Stir. Letters on the English (1949) with James Bridie[19]
  • The House of Neill, 1749–1949 (1949)[20]
  • 'By me ... ': a report upon the apparent discovery of some working notes of William Shakespeare in a sixteenth-century book (1949)[21]
  • Stevenson and Edinburgh: A Centenary Study (1950, 1974)[22]
  • The Scots (1951)[23]
  • The Highland Jaunt; A Study of James Boswell and Samuel Johnson upon their Highland and Hebridean Tour of 1773 (1954)[24]
  • Scotland in Colour (1954) with photographs by A. F. Kersting[25]
  • Sanderson & Murray 1844-1954: Fellmongers and Wool Merchants (1954)[26]
  • Understanding the Scots: A Guide for South Britons and Other Foreigners (1956)[27]
  • Lord Lovat of the '45: The End of an Old Song (1957)[28]
  • The Wisdom of the Scots (1961)[29]
  • Union compleat: an humble proposal (1962)[30]
  • Compton Mackenzie, a panegyric for his eightieth birthday (1963)[31]
  • If Freedom Fail: Bannockburn, Flodden, the Union (1964)[32]
  • Pure Wine (1965)[33]
  • Corsica Boswell: Paoli, Johnson and Freedom (1966)[34]
  • Sir Walter Scott: the Man and Patriot (1970)[35]
  • Bonnie Prince Charlie (1972)[36]
  • The Shell Guide to Scotland (1973)[37]

Notes
  1. Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  2. Martell, Edward (1971). The Author's & Writer's Who's who. Burke's Peerage, Limited. p. 524.
  3. McKechnie, George (2013). The Best-hated Man: George Malcolm Thomson, Intellectuals and the Condition of Scotland Between the Wars. Argyll Publishing. pp. 130 and 145. ISBN 9781908931320.
  4. McKechnie, George (2013). The Best-hated Man: George Malcolm Thomson, Intellectuals and the Condition of Scotland Between the Wars. Argyll Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 9781908931320.
  5. Maschwitz, Eric (1957). No Chip on My Shoulder. 52: H. Jenkins.CS1 maint: location (link)
  6. Suzanne Shale, Listening to the Law: Famous Trials on BBC Radio, 1934-1969, The Modern Law Review Vol. 59, No. 6 (Nov., 1996), pp. 813-844 at p. 821 note 36. Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Modern Law Review. JSTOR 1097448
  7. Briggs, Asa (1995). The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume II: The Golden Age of Wireless. OUP Oxford. p. 157. ISBN 9780192129307.
  8. Peszke, Michael Alfred (2015). The Polish Underground Army, the Western Allies, and the Failure of Strategic Unity in World War II. McFarland. p. 125. ISBN 9781476610276.
  9. Lockhart, Robert Hamilton Bruce (1973). The Diaries of Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart: 1939-1965. Macmillan. p. 135. ISBN 9780333184806.
  10. Heath, Jeffrey (1983). Picturesque Prison: Evelyn Waugh and His Writing. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 266. ISBN 9780773560888.
  11. Chambers, Colin (2006). Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre. A&C Black. p. 303. ISBN 9781847140012.
  12. McArthur, Euan (2016). Scotland, CEMA and the Arts Council, 1919-1967: Background, Politics and Visual Art Policy. Routledge. p. 201. ISBN 9781317058755.
  13. University of Edinburgh Journal. 1977. p. 344.
  14. McLaren, Moray (1932). Return to Scotland: An Egoist's Journey. Duckworth.
  15. McLaren, Moray (1934). A Wayfarer in Poland. Methuen & co., ltd.
  16. McLaren, Moray (1947). A Dinner with the Dead. Serif Books.
  17. Peterson, William S. (2006). John Betjeman: A Bibliography. Clarendon Press. p. 235. ISBN 9780198184034.
  18. McLaren, Moray (1948). Stern and Wild: A New Scottish Journey. Chapman & Hall.
  19. Bridie, James (1949). A Small Stir. Letters on the English by James Bridie and Moray McLaren. London.
  20. Bell, Bill (2007). Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland, Volume 3: Ambition and Industry 1800-1880. Edinburgh University Press. p. 515. ISBN 9780748628810.
  21. McLaren, Moray (1949). 'By me ... ': a report upon the apparent discovery of some working notes of William Shakespeare in a sixteenth-century book. J. Redington.
  22. McLaren, Moray (1974). Stevenson and Edinburgh: A Centenary Study. Haskell House. ISBN 9780838318317.
  23. McLaren, Moray (1951). The Scots. Penguin Books.
  24. Damrosch, Leo (2019). The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age. Yale University Press. p. 429. ISBN 9780300244960.
  25. McLaren, Moray (1954). Scotland in Colour. B.T. Batsford.
  26. McLaren, Moray (1954). Sanderson & Murray 1844-1954: Fellmongers and Wool Merchants. Sanderson & Murray.
  27. McLaren, Moray (1956). Understanding the Scots: A Guide for South Britons and Other Foreigners. F. Muller.
  28. McLaren, Moray (1957). Lord Lovat of the '45: The End of an Old Song. Jarrolds.
  29. Reicher, Stephen; Hopkins, Nick (2001). Self and Nation. SAGE. p. 230. ISBN 9780761969204.
  30. McLaren, Moray (1962). Union compleat: an humble proposal. M. Macdonald.
  31. McLaren, Moray (1963). Compton Mackenzie, a panegyric for his eightieth birthday. M. Macdonald.
  32. McLaren, Moray (1964). If Freedom Fail: Bannockburn, Flodden, the Union. Secker & Warburg.
  33. McLaren, Moray (1965). Pure Wine. Alastair Campbell.
  34. McLaren, Moray (1966). Corsica Boswell: Paoli, Johnson and Freedom. Secker & Warburg.
  35. McLaren, Moray (1970). Sir Walter Scott: the Man and Patriot. Heinemann. ISBN 9780434440559.
  36. McLaren, Moray (1972). Bonnie Prince Charlie. Saturday Review Press.
  37. McLaren, Moray (1973). The Shell Guide to Scotland. Ebury Press.
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